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I'se the b'y that builds the boat,
I'se the b'y that sails her;
I'se the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings them home to Lizer.
Cods and rinds to cover your flake,
Cake and tea for supper;
Cod fish in the spring of the year,
Fried in maggoty butter.
I'se the b'y that builds the boat,
I'se the b'y that sails her;
I'se the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings them home to Lizer.
Hip your partner Sally Tibbo,
Hip your partner Sally Brown;
Fogo, Twillingate, Morton's Harbour,
All around the circle.
I don't want your maggoty fish,
That's no good for winter;
I can buy as good as that,
Down in Bonavista.
I took Lizer to a dance,
As fast as she would travel;
And every step that she did take,
Was up to her knees in gravel.
Susan White, she's out of site,
Her petticoat wants a border;
Old Sam Oliver, in the dark,
He kissed her in the corner.
I'se the b'y that builds the boat,
I'se the b'y that sails her;
I'se the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings them home to Lizer.
A variant was collected in 1951 from Lloyd Soper and Bob MacLeod of St. John's, NL, by Ken Peacock as I's The B'y That Builds The Boat and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, p.64, by The National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
A variant was published in Gerald S. Doyle's Old-Time Songs And Poetry Of Newfoundland: Songs Of The People From The Days Of Our Forefathers (Third edition, p.30, 1955). A variant was also published as I'se The B'y on p.22 of Songs Of Newfoundland, a complimentary booklet of lyrics to twenty-one songs distributed by the Bennett Brewing Co. Ltd., of St. John's, NL, with the cooperation of the Gerald S. Doyle Song Book from which the words were obtained.
A variant was recorded as I'm The B'y by Great Big Sea - Pre GBS (Rankin Street Tape - Live At The Blarneystone, 1991).
See more songs by Great Big Sea.
A variant was also recorded by Ryan's Fancy as I'se Da Bye (An Irish Night At The Black Knight Lounge ©1971, Marathon Records; Times To Remember ©1973, Audat Records).
See more songs by Ryan's Fancy.
From the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
Flake - a platform built on poles and spread with boughs for drying cod-fish on the foreshore.
